The Kings win in a rematch of last years championship final

Red Deer, February 10, 2023 – Featured in the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre on Friday night was a rematch of last year's men's volleyball conference championship final match between the NAIT Ooks and the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings.

The Kings defeated the Ooks 3-1 and went on to win a bronze medal at the national championships in Quebec last year.

RDP would control the match early on as they took a 19-14 lead into a timeout called by their opponent. The Kings were serving very well and controlling the serve-pass aspect of the game which their head coach has preached about in a lot of his post-game interviews. Outside-hitter Colby Nemeth (Bachelor of Commerce) really had his top-spin serve working specifically in the last few points of the first set. On set point, the Kings managed to catch a break with the Ooks outside-hitter committing an error on his kill attempt to give RDP a 25-17 set victory.

It was a much different set in the second with it being very close from start to finish. From the first-serve by the Kings, it was neck and neck as these two teams gave the fans a glimpse of last year's championship matches that saw all aspects of a volleyball match including a few big blocks on the outside. After the Ooks dropped the first set, they managed to shake things off and stayed in it right until the end. Unfortunately for them, they were out of rotation on the set-clinching point which gave the Kings a 25-23 victory.

It was a fast start for the Kings in the third set as they went into a timeout called by the Ooks with a 7-3 lead. Like they did in the previous set, the Ooks battled back and took a one-point lead late in the third set which made for a close finish. The RDP Kings would sweep the Ooks in three consecutive sets with a 25-21 victory after a kill by middle Jax Wasylowich (Open Studies).

Head Coach Aaron Schulha really believes his team's serving game can be a huge asset especially come championship weekend.

"I really believe our serving game can be a strength of ours when guys are dialled in. We have two guys ripping spin serves and our float serves need to be the most consistent, which we have not seen lately. Noah Carlson had another great match from the service line and was a huge contributor to tonight's win."

The Ooks player of the game went to outside-hitter Jarod Robert (Digital Media and IT) with eight kills and three assists. The Kings player of the game went to setter Maddux Greves (Business Administration) as he finished with one ace and 24 assists. This is Greves' second player of the game honour in three matches.

The Kings will play in their last regular season match tomorrow at 3 pm when they take on the Northwestern Polytechnic Wolves and will honour Greves for his accomplishments and contributions to the sport over his five-year post-secondary career.

As for the Ooks, their regular season is done and will prepare for the playoffs next weekend.